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Désolé (Gorillaz song)

2020 song by Gorillaz ft. Fatoumata Diawara

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ86755497 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Désolé" (English: "Sorry") is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. The track was released on 27 February 2020 as the second single for Gorillaz' seventh studio album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez. The song was part of the Song Machine project, a web series which involved the release of various Gorillaz tracks featuring different guest musicians over the course of 2020.

Music video

The video, directed by Jamie Hewlett, Tim McCourt, and Max Taylor, was filmed at Lake Como in Italy and mainly features band members

2-D, Noodle and Russel Hobbs boating with Diawara and Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn after having been transported to the lake via a portal inside Kong Studios, the band's fictional headquarters. Throughout the video, virtual bassist Murdoc Niccals can be seen inside Kong Studios, attempting and failing to cross the portal.

Release

In a press release, fictional band member Russel said of the song's recording: "Making 'Désolé' with Fatou was a real moment for me, you know. She's an African Queen. This lady made the song what it is, beautiful, like life. What can I say about 'Désolé'? They say sorry is the hardest word, but that's not true...

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Désolé (Gorillaz song)” as 2020 song by Gorillaz ft. Fatoumata Diawara. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2020—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2020-02-27. The account is most persuasive where Désolé, Gorillaz and song can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2020 song by Gorillaz ft. Fatoumata Diawara. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q86755497. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2020.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Désolé (Gorillaz song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Désolé (Gorillaz song) primary sources, Désolé (Gorillaz song) archive and Désolé research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Désolé (Gorillaz song)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Désolé (Gorillaz song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.